Alabama GOP chair Lathan says removing Moore 'very unlikely'

Alabama Republican Party Chairwoman Terry Lathan said she's seen a strong surge of support for Roy Moore in the last few days and said it was "very unlikely" that anything would change his status as the party's nominee for the Dec. 12 special election for the U.S. Senate.

Lathan said she's talked to some members of the party's steering committee but they have not decided whether to meet to consider what action, if any, they might take concerning Moore's candidacy.

Lathan said she's talked to national Republican officials as well but said no party leaders outside the state are trying to tell the state GOP what to do.

Moore has strongly denied a woman's claims in a Washington Post article published Nov. 9 that she had a sexual encounter with Moore in 1979, when she was 14 and he was a 32-year-old county prosecutor.

Three other women said Moore dated them or asked them on dates when they were ages 16-18 and he was in his early 30s, according to the story.

Moore has characterized the report as an attack intended to derail his campaign.